Favorites
by xStarxSapphirex
Summary: Five times that Dick Grayson was seen as Bruce's favorite, and one time that it was realized he wasn't. Five unrelated drabbles focusing on different characters perceiving Dick as Bruce's favorite, and one showing that he isn't.
1. Damian

**A/N: I know I haven't yet finished my other story about Dick and Jason but this idea popped into my head and wouldn't go away. I was going to do them in the order that the characters met Dick but for some reason Damian's was easiest to write and so got finished first.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Batman or any of its characters. That ingenuity is the credit of DC!**

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His father was Batman, a creature of the night, the Protector of Gotham, a dark and stoic man. Or at least so Damian had previously believed, based on his interactions with the man. He'd only been here for a month or so but had already come to realize that much like himself, his father was not one for talking or showing emotions. That was fine by Damian, he'd not been exposed to much affection or emotion growing up, so the lack of communication or shown affection was normal to him. Or rather, it had been normal up until today when something happened that shifted his entire perspective.

The oldest of his father's adopted urchins, a man called Richard Grayson, was coming home for the week and the house was in an uproar. Well, a small portion of the house was in an uproar, a quarter of the house to be exact, which was one Timothy Drake. Damian was not at all encouraged by the enthusiasm with which Drake regarded Grayson's arrival. He detested Drake and only refrained from killing him out of respect for his father, though privately he believed that he would be doing his father a favor. If Drake was so excited about the arrival of this Grayson person then Damian shuddered to think what this new 'brother' of his was like. He didn't think that he would be able to restrain the urge to kill someone should there end up being _two_ Drakes running around the house.

With this in mind, he had resolved to stay in his room until the initial excitement of the arrival had dissipated or even for the entirety of the visit. Soon enough though, his curiousity began to get the best of him, not that he actually wanted to meet this Grayson he just wanted to scope out a potential enemy. Creeping down the stairs, he noted that Drake was leaving reluctantly citing something about a mission or disturbance that had come up. With a feeling that felt disturbingly like satisfaction, Damian realized that the disturbance would mean that Batman would also have to leave, because there was no way that he would leave his city to Drake's incompetent hands. That meant that Grayson would be here alone and would give Damian plenty of time to thoroughly investigate him and eliminate him if necessary.

Waiting calmly and patiently until he was sure that his father and Drake were gone, Damian crept quietly towards the kitchen where he heard the low murmur of voices. Of course Pennyworth would keep the visitor company, but it would be ridiculously easy to send the butler away and get Grayson alone. Unfortunately the sight that greeted him was not at all what he expected and he froze in shock and disbelief. That wasn't right, it _couldn't_ be right. There was something else going on here, something else going on that he wasn't aware of that made this situation completely reasonable. Why else would his father and a young man that he assumed was Grayson be sitting across from each other at the kitchen table and _laughing_?

Abject horror gripped Damian, his father was laughing, _laughing_. There was something fundamentally wrong with that, or perhaps it was simply the fact that Damian had never before heard his father laugh. He'd never seen that expression on his father's face either, it was affectionate and happy when he looked at the man across from him. Damian knew that his father was less secretive with Drake but that was because he trusted his young ward, with Grayson he seemed to… well to _love_ him. Damian finally understood why Grayson was always referred to as Bruce Wayne's son and not simply as his ward, their bond was deeper than that. It was deeper even than the bond between Damian and his father, which Damian was now realizing was practically nonexistent no matter how hard he'd tried to convince himself otherwise.

Unable to bear looking at the scene in front of him and feeling as though he were intruding on something private, Damian fled back up to the safety of his room. He didn't understand the drastic difference between the father that he thought he knew and the one downstairs laughing and talking with Grayson. He was so open and free with Grayson, but so closed and stiff with Damian himself. But _why_? He wasn't that way with Drake and as far as he knew he hadn't been that way with Todd, so was it just Grayson? Was it because he was the first son that his father had known, regardless of blood? It was then that Damian understood. Of course, as the 'first son', even though that title rightfully belonged to Damian, Grayson would be his father's favorite. Well, Damian would merely have to prove himself as the rightful heir to the Wayne enterprise and win his father's favoritism that way.


	2. Joker

**A/N: So sorry for the delay! Holidays were hectic and now I'm having some health issues. :/ However, I will do my very best to keep my stories updated and not leave such a large gap between updates. Now, here's the next drabble in this series and while it's a little short, I honestly couldn't resist. I might actually have to expand this story from just five oneshots if these ideas keep popping up. Anyway, thanks to everyone who reviewed, you guys are awesome and inspire me to write faster! Enjoy!**

**ARL15: Thank you! I'm glad you like it! I must confess to feeling the same way, Dick is my absolute favorite and I tend to believe he's Bruce's too. I think that's why it's so easy for me to write people seeing it that way!**

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He'd killed the wrong kid. That much was obvious, though in his defense he'd thought that a self-proclaimed hero like Bats would have cared a little more about all of his protégés. And yes, Batsy had gone a little crazy after the untimely, well really is was perfectly timed, a stroke of brilliance on his part, death of his little sidekick. But then he'd pulled himself back together again and even found himself _another_ little Robin to follow him around. Seriously, where did he _get_ these kids? Was there some sort of sidekick shop that he was unaware of? Because if that was the case then it was completely unfair of Bats to hide that from him, just think of the fun that they could have if they _both_ had sidekicks!

But anyway, back to the killing the wrong birdy issue, which was clearly why Batman was still hinged and not a crazy angry murderer. Obviously he should have gone after the first Boy Wonder instead of the cheap replacement that Bats had produced after the first vanished. Really, had there been some sort of sale going on when Batsy bought the second birdy? Because honestly, something was seriously wrong with that kid, he had no sense of fun! Maybe Bats could get a refund since obviously there was a defect on the second Boy Blunder he'd bought, the kid had gotten himself blown up for goodness sake!

And yet even that hadn't been enough to get Batsy to go dark side, well darker side, which was really quite surprising at the time. Now that the Joker had had some time to reflect on it though, he could see where Bats might not have held the replacement bird in the same regard that he'd held the original. For starters, Bats and the original had worked together much better, the Dynamic Duo as they were called was not Batman and Robin, it was Batman and the _original_ Robin. Second, it was clear that Bats had been much fonder of the first than he was of the second, which Joker didn't really blame him for because the replacement had been just downright _rude_.

So clearly, in order to really push Bats over the edge, the first Boy Wonder had to die a painful and bloody death. Which was a shame really, since Joker actually kind of liked the kid, why he'd watched him grow up which made him practically an uncle! The kid had a wonderful laugh too, and a sense of humor even if it wasn't quite to the Joker's taste, but at least he tried! It really was just too bad, but if the Bats was to fall then his favorite bird would have to fall too.


	3. Jason

**A/N: Thank you so much for being patient, everyone! Here's a little chapter in Jason's point of view, just for you guys! I'm not quite sure I did him justice but I hope you like it. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Batman or DC, I do however own a little Nightwing action figure as of Christmas. ;)**

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Bruce preferred Dick Grayson to Jason Todd. It was horrifyingly, glaringly, stupidly obvious and Jason wondered how on earth he'd managed to miss it before. Even after everything that had gone down between the two, it was painfully obvious that Dick still held the monopoly on Bruce's heart. In fact, until recently when he'd observed an interaction between Bruce and his former ward, Jason hadn't even been sure that the Batman _had_ a heart. Well, yeah he'd known that the man had some semblance of human emotion, after all he'd taken in Jason, but just not to that extent.

It was kind of weird, seeing the Batman, no _Bruce_, act like an actual human being instead of the larger than life figure that Jason had come to see him as. It hadn't bothered him at all in the beginning, in fact it had actually been kind of nice. Discipline was something that he understood despite having very limited experience with the subject, and he'd just assumed that that was how the Batman worked. He'd assumed that the Batman and Bruce were one and the same, that both were all business and emotionless. Now though, Jason wasn't so sure and that made him angry, confused, and hurt all at once.

Why couldn't Bruce look at _him_ like that? Just once? Why couldn't he drop the emotionless voice and blank stare, which Jason now knew was just a façade, and _smile_? He could do it with Dick, why couldn't he do it with Jason too? Was he really that bad? That Bruce felt as though he couldn't open up to Jason, trust him, respect him, _love_ him? It was one thing to receive that sort of standoffish behavior from the Batman, but from Bruce too? He knew that Bruce was capable of emotion, it showed every time that he looked at his former partner and it made Jason sick with an emotion that he refused to acknowledge was jealousy.

A loud laugh dragged him out of his angry thoughts, but the scene in front of him only served to further darken his mood. Dick Grayson was having dinner at the manor for the first time since Jason had started living there and the younger boy hated it. Sure, he also hated the awkward dinners that he and Bruce were usually subject to with the silence that stretched far too long and often; but at least those he understood and could deal with. This new Bruce that laughs and smiles and looks at the boy across from him with such open undisguised affection is foreign and frightening.

The worst part is that somehow a tiny part of him understands that _this_ is the _real_ Bruce, not the caped crusader that he works with every night, not the vapid playboy that parties and sleeps around, and certainly not the Batman-like stoicism that he is greeted with every day. And that realization hurts, it hurts because Jason realizes suddenly that he might have only been taken in to spite this unfamiliar boy who knows everything about Bruce and is trusted to know it. It hurts because he realizes that he will never be able to coax a smile onto Bruce's face, never be able to throw his arm around Bruce's shoulders so casually, never be able to hug the man and feel it returned, never be able to converse so freely, and most importantly never be able to feel the warmth of Bruce's affection and look of love. It hurts, it hurts a lot, and it hurts the most because Jason knows that Dick doesn't understand how valuable that is, he doesn't understand how much Jason would give for a single look of approval, and he doesn't understand that he is Bruce's favorite. Granted there's really just the two of them so really it could just be that Bruce doesn't like Jason, but that idea just hurts all the more.

It's painful to watch the two of them interact and yet it's fascinating too. Watching all the walls that Bruce has constructed come suddenly tumbling down at just the sight of the young man he raised is truly a sight to behold. The bright openness of Dick's face when he looks at Bruce, in one of the rare moments where they get along, only highlights the affection and trust in the smile that Bruce sends his way. It's as though the annoying happiness that practically radiates from Dick Grayson infects Bruce Wayne himself, and the older man suddenly drops the walls and masks he usually wears. What's worse is that it's not just Bruce, it's Alfred, and it's Batman too. They all like Dick Grayson the best, charming, likeable, smart, perfect Dick Grayson. Hell, even the villains like him better, just the other night the Joker, the Joker, had had the gall to ask Batman to 'return' him and get 'the old birdie back' or at least a 'refund of some sort'. Jason had kicked him hard and Batman had not graced the comment with a reply, but now Jason was wondering why exactly Batman had said nothing.

Another laugh in response to a joke that isn't even funny and suddenly Jason can't take it anymore, he pushes back from the table harshly and flees up to his room making sure to slam the door loudly just to spite Alfred and Bruce. Jason throws a few more things around, taking care not to use anything expensive or breakable, and finally just curls up in a ball on the bed. He can still hear them downstairs, probably talking about what bad manners the street rat had and Dick is probably laughing at him, Alfred is shaking his head in disappointment, and Bruce is regretting taking him in. Whatever, it's not like he cares anyway, he's only here to be off the street not to find a family. It doesn't matter, he tells himself, it doesn't matter. He hates how petty he's being, he hates Alfred for inviting Dick, he hates Bruce for loving Dick more, he hates Dick for being so perfect, and he hates himself for not being good enough.

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**ARL15:** Oh yes, that's definitely a part of my canon too! It's both good and bad when your villains actually like you, probably makes things a little awkward, haha.

**RascalJoy:** Psh, killing Dick and Tim would totally secure Damian's spot as Bruce's favorite…. at least in Damian's mind it would. :P

Poor Bruce just doesn't know how to express himself, it's really getting to be an issue too. He should probably see someone about it….

Ha! True! Dami loves Grayson, even if he won't say it out loud. I agree, they are the best Dynamic Duo ever! With Bruce and Dick as a _very_ close second, of course.

Nope! Not at all, I take that as a good sign. XP

Haha, I'm glad you enjoyed it! Of course Joker will never kill Dickie! The fans would revolt!

Thanks so much for your kind words and support! Crazy schedules are the worst, right?

**Haro kzoids:** Muchas gracias!

**CaraLee934:** Um… thanks? Haha, I'm glad you liked it! :D

**ProtectorKorii:** Aw, thanks! It's nice to know I write psychopaths such as the Joker so well, haha. ;D I agree, losing Alfred and/or Dick would utterly destroy Batman. I love your icon!


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